Vietnamese defense minister attends Shangri-La Dialogue

Defense Minister General Phung Quang Thanh is leading a Vietnamese delegation to the 13th IISS Asia Security Summit, known as the Shangri-La Dialogue, which opened in Singapore on Friday.

Defense Minister General Phung Quang Thanh is leading a Vietnamese delegation to the 13th IISS Asia Security Summit, known as the Shangri-La Dialogue, which opened in Singapore on Friday.

At the event, Minister Thanh has had separate meetings with his counterparts from Singapore, Ng Eng Heng and New Zealand, Jonathan Coleman.

Meanhile, Deputy Defence Minister Senior Lieutenant General Nguyen Chi Vinh met with the head of the Chinese delegation, Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the People’s Liberation Army Lieutenant General Wang Guanzhong, and the leader of the Russian delegation, Deputy Defence Minister Anatoly Antonov.

In addition, General Thanh and other Vietnamese officials also had meeting with officials of US company Lockheed Martin.

Minister Thanh is scheduled to deliver a speech at the Dialogue today, May 31, and he will also have bilateral meetings with the heads of some delegations at the dialogue.

The annual Dialogue, organized by the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), will last until June 1.

The Dialogue consists of five plenary sessions with their agendas focusing on the process of advancing military-to-military cooperation, the handling of tensions and conflict management in the Asia-Pacific, and the contribution of the U.S. to regional stability.

According to international media and experts, the Dialogue will also on the current tensions in the East Vietnam Sea and East China Sea caused by China recently.